Bomba on Panther Island ** (1949, Johnny Sheffield, Allene Roberts, Lita Baron) – Classic Movie Review 10,995

The 1949 Monogram Pictures black and white adventure film Bomba on Panther Island is written and directed by Ford Beebe and again stars Johnny Sheffield, who is back for the second entry in the 12-film Bomba the Jungle Boy series, following Bomba the Jungle Boy (1949).

Also in the cast are Allene Roberts, Lita Baron, Harry Lewis, Charles Irwin, Smoki Whitfield, Martin Wilkins, and Bill Walker.

Ford Beebe’s screenplay is based on the character by Roy Rockwood. Sheffield’s Bomba the Jungle Boy hunts a rogue man-eating black panther on the loose while helping Judy Maitland (Allene Roberts) and her developer brother Robert (Harry Lewis) to build an experimental farm agricultural plantation in Africa.

Commissioner Andy Barnes (Charles Irwin) and Eli (Smoki Whitfield) help, but Bomba gets sidetracked by the exotic Losana (Lita Baron), recovering just in time to battle the panther.

It runs 76 minutes.

It is produced by Walter Mirisch, whose career and fortune the series kick started. Mirisch said he was paid $2,500 for each Bomba film, and the series’ success launched him as a big-time independent producer with The Mirisch Corporation, formed in 1957 with his brothers Marvin and Harold, notably producing The Magnificent Seven, The Apartment, West Side Story, The Great Escape, The Pink Panther and In The Heat of the Night. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture as producer of In the Heat of the Night (1967).

Also in the cast are Smoki Whitfield, James Adamson, Joel Fluellen, Harry Lauter, and Juanita Moore.

The 12 Bomba films, all directed by Beebe, are: Bomba, the Jungle Boy (1949), Bomba on Panther Island (1949), The Lost Volcano (1950), The Hidden City (1951), The Lion Hunters (1951), Elephant Stampede (1952), African Treasure (1952), Bomba and the Jungle Girl (1952), Safari Drums (1953), The Golden Idol (1954), Killer Leopard (1954) and Lord of the Jungle (1955).

There are 20 books in the Bomba series, written by Roy Rockwood in imitation of the Tarzan books.

DC Comics published a series of seven Bomba comic books in 1967 – 1968.

Walter Mortimer Mirisch was born on 8 November 1921. He celebrated his 100th birthday on 8 November 2021.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 10,995

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